Switching Between Individual and Couple Planning

ProjectionLab lets you plan on your own or together with a spouse or partner, and you can switch between the two whenever your situation changes. This guide walks you through both directions: moving from individual to couple planning, and vice versa.

Whether you’re adding a partner to your plan or going back to planning solo, the setting lives in the same place.

Find Your Planning Status

Both changes start from the Basic Info screen.

1. In the top-right corner of the screen, click your avatar.
2. In the dropdown menu, click Settings.
3. On the Settings page, click Basic Info. It’s the first row in the list, just below your name and email.

At the top of the Basic Info screen, you’ll see a card showing your current planning status. Below it are cards for each person in your plan, showing their name, age, and birth month and year.

Switch from Individual to Couple

1. At the top of the Basic Info screen, click the As an individual card.
2. In the How would you like to plan? window, click As a couple on the right side of the toggle. The description below it will change to “Plan for yourself and a partner.”
3. Click Save in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Once you save, the status card at the top of Basic Info will read As a couple, with “Planning as a couple” underneath.

Add Your Partner’s Details

After you switch, a new card labeled Spouse appears on the Basic Info screen, just below your own card.

1. Click the Spouse card.
2. Enter your partner’s name and birth month and year.
3. Click Save.

Once you’ve added their details, the Spouse card will show your partner’s name, age, and birth month and year, just like your own card does.

Assign Owners in Current Finances

Once you’re planning as a couple, each account in Current Finances can belong to you, your spouse, or both of you. It’s a good idea to review your accounts so each one has the right owner.

Let’s say your spouse has a money market account with a $50,000 balance that you added back when you were planning as an individual. That account is still listed under your name, so you’ll want to change its owner to your spouse.

1. Click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the screen.
2. Click Current Finances.
3. Below the summary charts, click through each tab: Savings, Investments, Real Assets, and Unsecured Debts.
4. For each account, click the Owner dropdown on the right side of the account and choose one of these options:
   • Your name if the account belongs only to you
   • Spouse if the account belongs only to your partner
   • Joint if you and your partner own the account together

Switch from Couple to Individual

1. At the top of the Basic Info screen, click the As a couple card.
2. In the How would you like to plan? window, click As an individual on the left side of the toggle. The description below it will change to “Create a plan for yourself.”
3. Click Save in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Once you save, the status card at the top of Basic Info will read As an individual, with “Planning as an individual” underneath. Your spouse’s card will no longer appear on the Basic Info screen.

What Happens to Your Partner’s Accounts

Switching to individual doesn’t delete any accounts from your plan. Instead, two kinds of accounts will stay in Current Finances with a blank Owner field:

• Accounts that belonged only to your partner
• Joint accounts that you and your partner owned together

Let’s say you and your partner had a joint taxable investment account with a $100,000 balance. After you switch, that account will still appear in Current Finances with its balance intact, but the Owner field next to it will be empty.

Review Your Accounts in Current Finances

To make sure your plan reflects only what you want included, take a moment to check for accounts without an owner.

1. Click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the screen.
2. Click Current Finances.
3. Below the summary charts, click through each tab: Savings, Investments, Real Assets, and Unsecured Debts.
4. Look for any account where the Owner field is empty.
5. For each one, decide what to do:
   • If the account should stay in your plan, click the Owner dropdown on the right side of that account and select your name at the top of the list.
   • If the account shouldn’t be in your plan anymore, click the three-dot menu to the right of the account name and select Delete.

Remove Your Partner’s Income from Your Plans

Switching to individual won’t remove any income tied to your partner from your plans. You’ll need to delete these manually, including (but not limited to) your partner’s salary, side hustle income, and Social Security benefits.

Let’s say your plan included your partner’s $60,000 salary and their Social Security benefits starting at age 67. After you switch to individual, both of those income streams will still be in your plan until you delete them.

1. Click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the screen.
2. Click Plan.
3. Click the Income card.
4. Look through each income stream and find any that belong to your partner.
5. For each one, click the three-dot menu to the right of the income name, then click Delete.

Changed Your Mind?

If you open the How would you like to plan? window and decide not to make a change, click Cancel to close it. Your planning status will stay exactly as it was.